Localized Pricing and Currency Display Testing on Real Devices

Real Device, Real Browser, Real Geolocation

For this test, I used:

• Device: Samsung Galaxy S25 Ultra (Android 16)
• Browser: Google Chrome
• Test Sites: Gymshark and Amazon
• Geolocations: United Kingdom, Japan, United States

TestMu AI provides access to 10,000+ real devices across multiple geographies. The IP Geolocation feature routes your session through infrastructure in the target country, so e-commerce platforms receive a legitimate foreign IP, exactly as they would from a real customer.

Test 1: Gymshark UK Pricing

Started from the TestMu AI dashboard, launched a browser session on the Galaxy S25 Ultra, and navigated to gymshark.com.

Setting the geolocation:

• Clicked IP Geolocation in the left toolbar
• Searched for "United Kingdom"
• Selected it, a toast confirmed "Location updated to United Kingdom"

Gymshark immediately detected the UK IP. A popup appeared asking "ARE YOU IN THE RIGHT PLACE?" with UK pre-selected. After confirming, the site loaded the UK storefront.

What I observed:

• URL changed to uk.gymshark.com
• Prices displayed in British Pounds: £50, £38, £55
• Promotional banner showed UK-specific messaging: "Free standard shipping on orders over £75"

This is exactly what a real UK customer would see, correct currency symbol, proper formatting, localized promotions.

Test 2: Amazon Japan Pricing

Next, navigated to amazon.com with the Japan geolocation active.

Amazon detected the geographic signal and displayed a banner: "We're showing you items that ship to Japan." Product prices appeared in Japanese Yen, ¥6,278, ¥1,004, ¥3,298, with proper formatting (no decimals, correct symbol placement, comma separators).

Bug Discovered: Mixed Currency on Japan Homepage

While scrolling the homepage, I spotted one promotional section displaying "Apparel under $25", USD pricing on a page that was otherwise fully localized to Japan with JPY everywhere else.

A Japanese customer would see mixed currencies on the same page, creating confusion about actual prices.

Why IP Geolocation Caught This

This is exactly the kind of inconsistency that only surfaces through real IP geolocation testing. Browser language settings or GPS spoofing wouldn't catch this because they don't trigger Amazon's server-side geo-detection. The promotional content block was likely hardcoded with USD rather than being dynamically localized, and without a real Japanese IP address hitting the server, this bug stays hidden.

Note: Start testing localized pricing on Real Devices. Try TestMu AI Now!

Test 3: Multi-Device Comparison (Japan vs US)

TestMu AI's Multi-Device Testing feature lets you run two devices side-by-side, each with independent IP geolocation:

• Left device (Galaxy S25 Ultra): Japan geolocation
• Right device (Galaxy S25): US geolocation

Both devices loaded amazon.com simultaneously. The results were dramatically different:

Japan device: Product search results with JPY pricing, "Deliver to Japan" banner, "Ships to Japan" on listings

US device: Completely different homepage, luxury brand showcases (Louis Vuitton, Van Cleef & Arpels), "Shop the premium spring edit" section, "Up to 15% off luxury gifts" promotion

Same URL, same moment, radically different experiences. Amazon doesn't just change currency, it serves entirely different homepage content, merchandising, and promotional campaigns based on geography.

Without multi-device testing with independent geolocations, we would never have known that US and Japan customers see fundamentally different shopping experiences.

What These Tests Reveal About Localization Testing

The IP Layer is Non-Negotiable

Both Gymshark and Amazon rely on IP address geolocation as a primary signal for determining which pricing to display. Changing browser language settings or using a browser extension to spoof location would not have triggered these responses. The server-side geo-detection systems specifically check the incoming IP address.

This is why testing on a real device cloud with actual IP geolocation simulation is essential. TestMu AI routes the session traffic through infrastructure in the target country, so the e-commerce platform's servers receive a legitimate foreign IP, exactly as they would from a real customer in that location.

Real Devices Catch Real Rendering Issues

Emulators can approximate how a price might appear, but they can't replicate the actual rendering pipeline of physical hardware. The Samsung Galaxy S25 Ultra's display, its font rendering engine, and Chrome's layout calculations on that specific device all contribute to how the price ultimately appears to the customer.

Consider the Japanese Yen prices on Amazon. The ¥ symbol and the numbers need to align correctly within the price container. On a real device, you can observe whether the symbol clips, whether the numbers wrap unexpectedly on smaller containers, or whether the font weight renders the currency legibly. These are hardware-dependent behaviors that emulators miss.

Multi-Device Testing Exposes Regional Differences

Running the same test on two devices simultaneously, each with a different geolocation, reveals how dramatically the customer experience varies by geography. In the Amazon test, the Japan-geolocated device showed product search results with JPY pricing, while the US-geolocated device showed a completely different homepage with luxury brand showcases and US-targeted promotions.

This isn't just a currency swap. It's a fundamentally different merchandising strategy, different content curation, and different user journey. Without multi-device testing with independent IP geolocations, these regional differences would be invisible to the testing team.

Building a Localized Pricing Test Checklist

Based on this hands-on testing session, here's a practical checklist for validating localized pricing on any e-commerce site:

Pre-Test Setup

• Identify target geographies (start with top 3-5 revenue markets)
• Document expected currency for each geography (GBP, EUR, JPY, INR, etc.)
• Note expected formatting conventions (decimal separator, thousands grouping, symbol position)
• List specific products to test (include a range of price points)

IP Geolocation Validation

• Set geolocation to target country
• Confirm site detects the new location (look for country selector popups, redirects, or banners)
• Verify URL changes if site uses country-specific domains (e.g., uk.gymshark.com)

Currency Display Validation

• Correct currency symbol appears (£, €, ¥, ₹, etc.)
• Symbol position matches local convention (before or after the number)
• Decimal handling is correct (no decimals for JPY/KRW, comma decimals for EUR in some countries)
• Thousands separator matches local convention (comma, period, space, or apostrophe)
• Prices are properly rounded (no raw conversion artifacts like £47.213)

Cross-Device Validation

• Test on at least two screen sizes (flagship + mid-range)
• Verify price containers don't overflow or clip
• Confirm currency symbols render correctly across devices